County Joins Park Service in Seeding Charred Castaic Canyons

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the U. S. Forest Service have approved $227,000 in emergency funds to reseed several canyons charred in September in Angeles National Forest.

A five-day brush fire, blamed on a gunshot, burned 10,450 acres northeast of Castaic Lake.

Forestry officials’ said their immediate concern is reseeding the hills to prevent heavy soil erosion caused by rain.

Severe soil loss could endanger fishing in Castaic Lake and force its closure for one or more years to clean out silt and debris, said Bill Brown, a Forest Service biologist.

The estimated annual value of fishing in the lake is $300,000.

On Tuesday in a 4-0 vote, supervisors approved a $20,000 grant to supplement the Forest Service’s $207,000 reseeding effort. The county will buy two types of seed to cover 1,500 acres.

The money also will be used to replace and repair wildlife drinking pools relied upon by birds, deer and coyotes.

The reseeding also is necessary to bolster wildlife food sources.

Without the reseeding, Brown said, “it would be tougher on the critters that are up there. It would be hard for them to find the necessary forage nutrition to get them through the winter.”

The Forest Service will reseed 5,100 acres in the canyons by helicopter and truck.

A team of hydrologists, biologists and soil engineers surveyed the damage late last month before deciding what areas of the forest needed help.